The Sadhus The participants of this study were sadhus, the Hindu religious ascetics, or monks, who renounce the material world for their spiritual life goal—moksha—freedom from suffering from the endless cycle of pains and pleasures, or the attainment of God (Atmapriyananda, 2013; Levy, 2011; Salagame, 2013) This research planned to interview the sadhus from the Advaita Vedanta philosophy school of thought, found by Adi Shankaracharya during the 8th century BCE Advaita Vedanta is one of the most respected schools of thought of the Hindu philosophy (Ranganathan, 2016) Per the Sannyasa Upanishad (Atmapriyananda, 2013), the sadhus must lead an ascetic life as per their monastic traditions The sadhus cannot earn for themselves They have to stay unmarried, must eat vegetarian food, and wear ocher, orange-colored robes The sadhus try to achieve their spiritual goal by practicing Vedic rituals, self-control, yoga, meditation, and the study of the scriptures under a Guru (Sanskrit: a spiritual master) Gurus are sadhus of the highest category, and authentic Gurus are always a rare find (Hausner, 2007) Every sadhu has a Guru under whose guidance the sadhus travel on their spiritual path Per most monastic orders, the sadhus cannot own a home, a permanent dwelling place, which makes them distinct from the householders (Atmapriyananda, 2013; Hausner, 2007) Therefore, they wander from one place to another According to most monastic orders (Atmapriyananda, 2013), the sadhus should not stay for more than a night in a village, five nights in a town, and seven nights in a holy place Many sadhus carry a danda, or staff, as an emblem of having entered the monastic calling Danda is a Sanskrit word that is a symbol of restraint or total self72